Zutara Week 2016
by turtleducklingg
Summary: I'm participating in Zutara week! Please enjoy my entries
1. Day 1 - Dragons

_Dragon - a mythical monster like a giant reptile. In European tradition the dragon is typically fire-breathing and tends to symbolize chaos or evil, whereas in East Asia it is usually a beneficent symbol of fertility, associated with water and the heavens._

* * *

"C'mon Kasai, just a little bit further."

Zuko was not quite sure what they meant by _a little bit further._ They were miles and miles away from the temple, and his dragon obviously wasn't in a state to fly all the way back. So Zuko just urged Kasai on, to some unknown place where they would be safe from the hunters.

The dragon, however, had different ideas, and began to haphazardly head downwards at an alarmingly fast rate. Zuko could tell that Kasai was only only halfway in control of his body; this was better than Zuko though, who had no control over the dragon and was holding onto Kasai's scaly body for dear life as they plummeted into the unknown.

* * *

Zuko was first met with an awful smell that was almost as terrible as dragon waste. He opened his eyes and a world of muddy green met his eyes, trees and vines and murky water all melding into each other.

This place was nothing like he had ever seen before; it was so different from the smooth stone walls and blistering heat of the sun warrior temple, and it scared him. But at the same time, it interested him, excited him, made him want to see more.

Zuko looked over at Kasai, and he finally saw the injury in its fullness - the dragon's sleek scales were ripped jaggedly and velvety blood spilled out of the wound, staining the muddy water red.

Suddenly, a quiet gasp caught Zuko's ear, and he immediately looked at the direction of the sound.

A girl stood near a tree, staring at Kasai with bright blue eyes full of awe. She must have been about Zuko's age, maybe a bit younger, with skin the colour of cinnamon and dark, wavy hair that framed her face.

She caught Zuko's eye and moved slightly closer, cautious of the strangers.

"What's you're name?" She asked, her voice smooth and pretty.

"I'm Zuko, this is Kasai." Zuko replied and gestured to his dragon.

"That's a pretty name," The girl said, and he wasn't sure whether she was talking about him or his dragon, "I'm Katara. What kind of animal is that?"

Zuko furrowed his eyebrows; how could she not know what a dragon was? Where was he?

"He's a dragon."

"He's really cool! Like a big red alligator with wings like a bird."

Alligator? Zuko's mind spun.

"Sorry, but where am I? My dragon crashed here because he was injured."

"You're in the swamp." Katara replied.

"Do you live here?" Zuko inquired.

"Yeah." She nodded. How could she live here with all the water and the vines? "Can I see your dragon's injury?"

Zuko looked at her questioningly; she could hurt Kasai even more, but when Katara saw his expression, she simply laughed.

"I'm not going to hurt him. I'm a healer; I want to see how bad the wound is."

Zuko was still unsure, but something about Katara made him trust her.

"Okay," he gave her a nod and gestured to the injury. She studied the wound and frowned.

"How'd he get hurt?"

"Dragon hunters."

"Oh...you guys eat them?"

Zuko raised an eyebrow; eat dragons? "N-no. People hunt them for sport."

Katara could barely believe what she had just heard. "So you kill them for no reason? That wasting innocent lives! Why would you do that?"

"I don't know." Zuko sighed, "I guess some people don't see it that way."

"What other way is there to see it?" Katara exclaimed angrily.

"I don't know. Some people are weird." Zuko lied; he was embarrassed to say that some firebenders killed dragons just to increase their own abilities.

"Well, I'll try to heal him. It's a pretty big wound, but I think I can do it." Katara smiled determinedly, and then did something amazing; she lifted her arms and the murky water followed her movements. He watched in amazement as she separated the mud from the water and put it on Kasai's wound. The water began to glow cobalt and when she pulled it away, the injury was gone.

It took Zuko a few seconds to form words, still amazed at Katara's actions. "How did you do that?"

"Do what? Heal him?"

"No- well, that too, but how did you control the water?"

"What you've never seen waterbending?"

"Waterbending? Like firebending?"

"Firebending? You can control fire?"

"Yeah," Zuko nodded and firebent, holding a flame in his hand.

This time, Katara looked amazed. "Woah... how'd you get it to just come out of your hand? And how are you not getting burnt?"

"I don't know...its just natural, I guess."

"That's makes sense. Waterbending's natural too."

Zuko smiled, but realised that he needed to do; the sun Warriors were probably worrying about him.

"Well, I should get going."

Katara looked up, slight disappointment in her cerulean eyes.

"Oh...are you sure you don't want to stay? Give Kasai some time to recover his strength."

Zuko bit the inside of his cheek; he wanted to stay and learn more about Katara - her personality, her way of life, if there were any more people living in the swamp - but he knew he should go.

Still, Kasai did seem pretty tired, and the sun warriors wouldn't really start worrying until tomorrow.

Zuko smiled, "actually, I think I'll stay for a while."

Katara smiled back.

* * *

Thanks for reading day 1! Requested by ObeliskX :)


	2. Day 2 - Reincarnation

_Reincarnation - the rebirth of a soul in another body._

I have lived many lifetimes. I have danced many dances. And yet, you are always dancing with someone else.

I am tired. Tired of waiting, waiting for you to choose me. Because in the end, I am just the witness, the bitter man who watches with wanting eyes as you live out your life with someone else.

Maybe one day, I will come to terms with being the side story to your romance. Maybe I will let you go, fall in love with someone else, live my life without you cutting into my thoughts.

But I cannot imagine doing that. Because wherever I am, whatever life I live, you are still there, just inches from my reach. My fingers desperately try to touch you, even if it's just for a moment, a flash a brilliance where I suddenly, finally, feel whole, but it never works. Because even when my fingertips are so close to skimming your own, he appears and grabs your hand completely; and you let him.

You would think I would have been used to the story by now. If I am always chasing you, but I can never catch you, I should just stop trying. But I can't. Because once you choose him with joyous and adoring eyes, I can step back and let you enjoy your life with him. But before you choose him? Stepping back and letting things fall into place is unthinkable. Because there is always that tiny possibility that you will choose me.

So as I close my wrinkled eyes and let this lifetime go, I feel a tinge of hope.

Maybe this lifetime, you will dance with me.


	3. Day 34 - MemoriesLilac

_Memory - something remembered from the past._

 _Lilac - a Eurasian shrub or small tree of the olive family, which has fragrant violet, pink, or white blossom and is a popular garden ornamental._

* * *

They say that, in the last moments of living, your life flashes before your eyes.

I am not sure whether this is true, as I am still alive, but I do know that, in the last moments of being with someone, their love flashes before your eyes.

* * *

She smelled of lilacs. Freshly cut from fields of viridescent, dew drop adorned fields of grass, their colour and scent attracting even the most timid of honeybees.

He had caught whiffs of her scent, pleasant pockets of air that were decorated by the smell lilacs, but he had never really smelled it until she hugged him.

That hug was all too quick; by the time he realised what was happening, that she had forgiven him and was throwing her arms around his neck with a smile on her face, he had very little time to appreciate the fragrance that hung to the air around her, to inhale it as she exhaled into his shoulder.

The next time he smelled it was when she sat next to him at the Ember Island play. God, he couldn't get enough of that scent, and he wondered what amazing thing he could've done in his life to have deserved this flowery, aromatic smell surrounding him as he watched a horribly inaccurate play of his life.

The small moments that he inhaled that scent blended together in his memory, until one stood out in his mind.

Lightning did not smell of lilacs. It didn't really smell of anything, until it came in contact with him. Then it smelled of burning flesh and the desperation to save that lilac-scented girl's life. Even if she didn't feel the same way, even if she didn't care what she smelled like, the act of jumping in front of a lightning bolt wasn't an opinion of needing to; rather, it was fact, and any other option seemed stupid an impossible at that time. Why let a lilac wilt when you can simply water it?

So he continued to water his lilac; the act of protecting her seemed instinctive, even though she insisted that she did not need protecting. It wasn't that he didn't realise that; like things already mentioned, it was a fact, not an opinion, that she was capable of handling herself. However, he _wanted_ to help, _wanted_ to protect her.

Not only that, but he favoured his lilac over sunflowers or bluebells. He even cared for that little lilac more than the stunning black rose, although he eventually stopped caring at all for that rose. He slowly, almost unnoticeably, fell deeper and more helplessly in love with that pretty lilac.

Their first kiss made any other times he smelled her scent seem unimportant, because that kiss was the first time he really smelled it, inhaled that gorgeous scent, inhaled the cobalt cloth of her dress, inhaled her soft, wavy hair, inhaled her warm, cinnamon-coloured skin tone; inhaled not only her scent, but her, in her full, perfect imperfection.

For three, love-filled, lilac-filled, perfectly imperfect years, he was blessed with her flowery scent and cerulean eyes. But all good must come to an end.

* * *

The memories flashed through his brain in a millisecond, but each one seemed to whist him away to a world of lilac scented joy.

He could inhale that lilac scent forever. But, of course, just because he could, doesn't mean he was going to.

 _AN: do lilacs even smell good lmao_


	4. Day 5 - Fever

People always say that the pain of childbirth is worth it once you hold that baby in your arms, but it has been 20 minutes since the agony stopped and I still don't know where my child is.

I caught a glimpse of her, crying and red faced and absolutely beautiful, but the doctors whisked her away from my sight, whispering to each other in concerned voices.

I am scared. Scared of what might happen to my baby, scared of what the doctors might say, scared of how long it will be before I hold her in my arms.

I have never held my daughter, and yet my arms feel empty without her in them.

Zuko has gone to question what is happening with our child, and even with the doctors and midwives surrounding me, I feel alone. I am without my baby, without my husband, lying on this hospital bed with an aching body and a worried mind, and no one to tell me that it will be okay.

"Excuse me, where's my baby?" I ask harshly, the excuse me not used as a form of politeness, but rather a phrase to get the midwife's attention.

"Oh, the doctors are just checking to make sure she is okay." She gives me a smile that seems patronising at this point.

"Oh, they're just checking she's okay for 20 minutes?"

"I'm sorry, but I need confirmation from the doctors-"

"Confirmation for what?"

"Miss, your baby has a fever. Nothing serious... I mean, we don't think it is. See, people develop fevers when-"

I stop listening at that point. I know why people develop fevers - it's because their body temperature rises to fight off infection - and I don't care. Because my daughter has an infection, and she is only a baby with a weak immune system and a tiny body.

And now I am even more scared, because I don't know what will happen to my daughter and I am thinking of all the worst possibilities.

* * *

Minutes seem to go by like hours, time stretched out by my worry, until finally, the doctors return. Zuko holds ourke daughter, his amber eyes sparkling with love for the little baby.

The doctors begin talking about whatever infection my daughter has, long words spilling out of their mouths, but their voices seem to mute as soon as my husband walks over to me. He doesn't say a word, just hands me the child to hold.

She is warm and tiny, the perfect size to carry in my arms as she exhales softly into my hand. Her delicate body rests against my chest and sends a warm feeling throughout my body. I stare into her cobalt eyes that seem to mirror my own and smile as widely as I can, though no smile could ever convey the joy I feel with my child in my arms.

I glance up at Zuko, tears of happiness clouding my vision, and he smiles back, taking my hand in his.

"I was thinking... we should name her Kya." He says, squeezing my hand.

"Are you sure you don't want to name her Ursa? It would be fine if-"

"No," he shakes his head, looking at her once more. "She's Kya."

My eyes travel back to my daughter's and I beam at her, with her jet black hair and pale pink lips and bright blue eyes that have been in my family for generations, and I nod.

"She is Kya."

* * *

Waow dis is late but it's cute so forgive me

I love baby one shots they're cute af

Bye


	5. Day 6 - Coffee

She was sweet like sugar cubes, melting into his embrace like sweet granules dissolving into coffee. She smelled like vanilla, the heavenly scent enveloping him every time her cocoa coloured hair rested on his shoulder as she nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck. Her skin was the colour of cinnamon and her lips were like freshly picked strawberries. She tasted like a sweet caramel macchiato, her embrace sending warmth to his cheeks and his heart, and now... now she was gone.

Now was a painful, bitter americano. It burned his throat as he swallowed it unwillingly, the memories of their love dripping down until there was nothing left but thick coffee sludge that left a bad taste in his mouth;

 _Baby baby, you're a_

 _caramel macchiato_

 _Your scent is still_

 _sweet on my lips_

 _Baby baby tonight_

 _Baby baby, you were_

 _warmer than the_

 _scent of a cafe latte_

 _Do you remember that feeling?_

 _Baby baby tonight_

 _[ Coffee, BTS ]_

* * *

*incorporates bts into zutara week entry bc i can't be controlled.*

I regret nothing.

I hoped you like this one! It started out as fluff but then I thought haha no I must write angst bc I am an emo bean.

I know this is very late and short but meh

~bri the emo bean


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